Author: Vatche Chakhmakhchian

Anti-Pashinyan demonstrators rally in “March of Dignity”

Vatche Chakhmakhchian

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 17:35,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 15, ARMENPRESS. Citizens demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan are marching in the streets of Yerevan in a procession called “March of Dignity”. The march is organized by the Homeland Salvation Movement – originally created by 16 political parties (1 parliamentary and 15 non-parliamentary). The procession began near the Sasuntsi David station.

The movement officially declared ex-PM Vazgen Manukyan as their candidate for Prime Minister who they say will organize early general elections.

But Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan ruled out his resignation for now, saying on December 14: “I have clearly stated that I can abandon the status given to me by the people only based on the credible results of the people’s _expression_ of will. As long as such an _expression_ of will hasn’t taken place, I will continue fulfilling my functions of prime minister and I have obliged to do so honestly.”

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Asbarez: Aliyev Says Visiting Minsk Group Co-Chairs Were Not Invited to Baku

Vatche Chakhmakhchian

December 12,  2020



OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said Saturday that no one had invited the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen to Baku, the Russian RIA Novosti agency reported.

The Minsk Group co-chairs Stephane Visconti of France, Andrew Schofer of the U.S., as well as the personal representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk are in Baku before heading to Yerevan on Sunday as part an announced visit to the region.

Conspicuously absent from the visit is the Russian co-chair Igor Popov. However, reports indicate that Russia’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mikhail Bocharnikov attended the meeting.

 

“Coming here [Baku] was your idea,” Aliyev told the Minsk Group Co-Chairs. “I can once again repeat this statement in front of the cameras. I have not invited the Minsk Group to visit, but when I was told that the Minsk Group would like to come, I wasn’t opposed to it. Maybe they have something to tell me. If you would like say it in front of the cameras, go ahead. If not, I will ask you to leave. I am listening to you.”

It was not clear why Popov did not attend the meeting.

Nagorno-Karabakh Becomes The Scene Of A Clash Between Turkey And The West

Vatche Chakhmakhchian
Greek City Times
Dec 13 2020
by Guest Blogger

The OSCE Mink Group Co-Chairs are visiting Yerevan and Baku this weekend to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement with the political leadership of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

It was announced by Assistant Secretary of State Philip Riker pointing out the lack of alternative to the existing diplomatic format to resolve disputes around Nagorno-Karabakh.

The speech by the American diplomat clearly shows notes of dissatisfaction with Turkey’s extreme activity towards Nagorno-Karabakh.

After the tripartite agreement was accepted, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev have been working towards the legalization of Ankara’s status as a full participant in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev in Baku for last Friday’s victory parade.

As soon as Turkey gets this status, Ankara will probably send a peacekeeping contingent to Nagorno-Karabakh along with the Russian troops already transferred to the conflict zone.

At first Erdoğan had unsuccessfully tried to negotiate with Vladimir Putin to create an independent Turkish center to monitor the ceasefire with the aim of strengthening Ankara’s role in the South Caucasus.

Then Turkish officials announced a rapid transfer of engineering units to Nagorno-Karabakh to clear the area.

Meanwhile, among Russian and Armenian military experts, arose reasonable fears that Ankara would send Special Forces under the guise of sappers for diversionary operations.

Erdoğan turned to the “creeping denunciation” of a tripartite agreement adopted with the decisive role of Russian diplomacy and was furious at the Kremlin’s inconsistency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) in Sochi, Russia on 22 October 2019. EPA-EFE/ALEXEI DRUZHININ / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL MANDATORY CREDIT

In particular, Aliyev began to stubbornly insist on the adoption of a new document fixing the status of Nagorno-Karabakh as a territory of Azerbaijan that is absolutely contrary to the previously accepted formula.

Now Baku demands the agreement to include Russian peacekeepers in “Azerbaijani soil.”

The Azerbaijani leader unlikely dared to do it without considering Erdoğan’s position, who had been the political overlord of Baku for a long time.

Meanwhile, Moscow and Ankara stopped trying to hide their diplomatic conflicts. This fact gives an opportunity for the West to seize the initiative in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Certainly the West is unlikely to be able to be the only regulative factor in Nagorno-Karabakh amid the enormous economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

However, it can moderate Erdogan’s appetites if unites with Moscow.

The Kremlin, paradoxically, can make a deal with its partners in the OSCE Minsk Group in order to hold back an overenthusiastic Turkish president.

The first joint step of the anti-Turkish tandem of Moscow and the West is likely to be the granting of Russian peacekeepers stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh with the OSCE mandate.

This will instantly destroy Erdoğan’s hopes of sending his “blue helmets” to the region, bypassing international institutions.

Against this backdrop, Vladimir Putin’s _expression_ of respect for the efforts of France and the United States to promote mediation in Nagorno-Karabakh looks like a prologue of the future alliance during an interview with Kremlin journalists.

American expert Bradley Reynolds points to Moscow’s interest in forming an “ad hoc” coalition with Paris and Washington.

“Russia has been investing in the geopolitical game in Transcaucasia, in which the stakes are rising, therefore Moscow may have a need to contribute to its efforts for a long-term political settlement of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh,” the political scientist stated.

The White House also does not deny its readiness for “building bridges” with the Kremlin to keep the Turkish president out of the game.

“We are concerned about the role of Turkey, the participation of foreign militants, the supply of weapons to Azerbaijan by Ankara. These issues are on the agenda of our dialogue with Russia,” acting assistant of US Secretary of State for Eurasia Philip Ricker emphasized.

Under these circumstances, Nagorno-Karabakh, which recently was the battleground between Armenia and Azerbaijan, has been rapidly becoming an arena, where Turkey and the West clash each other.

At the same time, Erdoğan, in pursuit of growing geopolitical ambitions, could be alone in face of a Western-Russian coalition, which may temporarily forget about previous disagreements in order to squeeze the Turkish leader from his advance in world politics.

The views of the author does not necessarily reflect those of Greek City Times.

Kemran Mamedov is a Moscow-based Azerbaijiani journalist born in Georgia with a focus on South Caucasus issues.

Armenia to receive humanitarian aid from Greece

Vatche Chakhmakhchian

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 15:46,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS. Humanitarian aid will be delivered to Armenia following the request by Armenian Organizations in Greece, Greekcitytimes reports.

The International Development Cooperation Service of Greece’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as part of its humanitarian mission, will deliver the aid to Armenia.

Specifically, the Armenian Relief Society, Armenian Blue Cross and Cross of Mercy Macedonia-Thrace, with assistance from the Embassy of Armenia in Athens, gathered humanitarian aid for victims of the Artsakh war.

With cooperation from the Ministry of National Defense, which provided a transport aircraft, the delivery is scheduled to be transported to Armenia on December 12.

The humanitarian aid includes medical supplies and food for the victims and refugees of Azerbaijan’s invasion of Artsakh.

The aid was supplied by Greeks and Armenian-Greeks.

The actions are coordinated by the General Director of the International Development Cooperation Service, Mr. G. Larissis.

He will deliver the sent aid to representatives of the Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations and the branch of the Armenian Relief Society in Armenia.

Dutch parliament adopts resolution on need to decide status for Artsakh

Vatche Chakhmakhchian

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 18:35, 9 December, 2020

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 9, ARMENPRESS.  The Dutch parliament unanimously adopted a resolution on the need to ensure the permanent security of the people of Artsakh and decide its status. ARMENPRESS was informed from the website of the Dutch parliament.

‘’There is an urgent need to initiate a final settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, to ensure strong security for the local population and to determine its status. To this end, we call on the government to make efforts within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group’’, reads the resolution.

CivilNet: Armenia Will Not Include Syrian Mercenaries in Prisoner Exchanges with Azerbaijan

Vatche Chakhmakhchian
CIVILNET.AM

9 December, 2020 22:20

  • Armenia’s president requests help from Putin to help delineate the new borderlines with Azerbaijan.
  • The constitutional court has rejected an application to suspend Gagik Tsarukyan’s parliamentary immunity. 
  • Russia will set up two more medical centers in Nagorno-Karabakh.
  • The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs visit Yerevan and Baku. 

Yerevan expresses concern over safety of Armenian population in Karabakh

Vatche Chakhmakhchian
TASS, Russia
Dec 9 2020
Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian met with French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian in Paris

YEREVAN, December 8./TASS/. Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian expressed concerns over the safety of Armenian population returning to Nagorno-Karabakh at talks with French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian in Paris on Tuesday.

"During a meeting with my French counterpart, we discussed in detail a long-term settlement of the Karabakh conflict. I expressed Armenia’s concerns, including as concerns a safe and deserved return home of the Armenian population fleeing Artsakh during the war, as well as an immediate exchange of prisoners of war and return of the bodies of those killed," Aivazian said.

He said that "aggression against Karabakh launched by Azerbaijan with an active support from Turkey, and the difficult situation as a result of it" was among the focal points at the talks. The diplomats exchanged opinions concerning the settlement of humanitarian problems, further peace negotiations, moves towards stability and security in the region, as well as protection of centuries-old Armenian cultural heritage under the control of Azerbaijani troops.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1992-1994, tensions boiled over and exploded into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and seven adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them.

On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10.